


Force Bond Shorts

by misplacedUnrepentantNerd



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Badass Rey, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Force Bond (Star Wars), Friendship, Gen, Jedi Ben Solo, Jedi Finn (Star Wars), Jedi Rey (Star Wars), No Plot/Plotless, No Sex, Not Canon Compliant, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, Random & Short, Soft Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misplacedUnrepentantNerd/pseuds/misplacedUnrepentantNerd
Summary: A mix of humorous and serious, mostly G and PG snapshots of things could happen when two people share a soul.Chapters 1-3 feature short, mundane fluff.Chapters 4-6 are scarier, weirder, and darker in a canon-typical way. They may become part of a plotted story, but they might also not.Chapter 7 has Finn and Rey training together, but Ben slips through the Bond by accident.Chapter 8 shows some implications of Rey having gone on a date with an original character.(My first go at sharing, so my tagging may not be the greatest!)
Relationships: Finn & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Rey & Ben Solo
Kudos: 7





	1. All the paper, all the pens

Rey sat with paper notebooks strewn all over her quarters. She’d accumulated a bunch of them for various reasons, even though she’d had little use for them before.

Worse, Rey had also started collecting pens. She even suddenly had a favorite and had purchased it in multiple colors. The mess they'd made had already almost made her slip and fall in the middle of the night.

“Where the kriff did I pick _this_ up?”

Ben grinned wryly through the Bond. Rey’s mouth made a thin line to suppress a laugh.

_Right!_


	2. Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Ben wandered around the quiet of Ajan Koss, picking up leaves and considering their design.

_Why am I doing this? This is nothing new. Neither Chandrilla nor Kashyyyk ever lacked—_

_—Because I’ve never seen these up close, you nerfherder! That’s why!_

Ben laughed to himself as Rey's indignation echoed through the Bond.

Then he collected as many different kinds of leaves as he could find.


	3. Turbulence

Rey had flown the X-wing through way worse, but the turbulence still unnerved her as she prepared to land it on Corellia during an electrical storm. Gripping the controls, she struggled to keep the craft upright as the wind sheer threatened to toss it (and her) into free fall.

As she yelled, a clip of memory passed through the Bond. A young, delighted Ben sat in the seat behind Chewie while Han glided the Falcon through equally rocky skies.

Rey burst out laughing. When she caught her breath, she was no longer grasping the controls so hard that her knuckles shone white.

_You’re welcome_.


	4. Heights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little darker than previous shorts for what could be read as a mild PTSD-ish reaction. It's also a little longer than the ones before, though not by much.

Ben looked up at the shelves of documents in the Temple archives on Coruscant, the top of which he couldn’t see. An old ladder leaned against the shelf, equally tall and intimidatingly spare.

_Even if I didn’t create this mess, or mean to create the messes I made, or felt like I had no choice when I made them, they are still my responsibility to try to set right._

He approached the ladder and hesitated. Flashes of memory from Exegol and all the other places and times he had had to climb out of various scrapes coursed through him. He leaned his head against the ladder, struggling to keep himself together.

Rey flooded the Bond with a mix of excitement and complicated nostalgia.

_This is just like scavenging a Star Destroyer! This is how I survived on Jakku! Trust me!_

Ben looked up and wiped his eyes with his sweater.

_You aren’t afraid of heights?_

_No more than necessary. Respecting them makes sense, but you also have the Force and you have me. You aren't going this alone. Go write some history._

Ben took a few deep breaths and started up the ladder.


	5. Dark Side?

Rey walked through a rundown part of Coruscant, when she saw in her vision of a flickering image of Kylo Ren. She braced herself against a stack of crates and reached out into the Bond.

_Are you all right?_

_Mostly. What’s going on?_

Rey closed her eyes, bracing herself internally enough to ask a question she never planned to ask.

_You haven’t gone to the dark side again, have you?_

Confusion flooded the Bond.

_No. Why?_

_I getting Kylo Ren imagery in my head. It hurts._

_I’m sensing it too. It’s your memory and the Force working as designed._

Rey closed her eyes, trying to stop tears.

_Even the Kylo Ren parts?_

Ben appeared in front of her, clothed in plainclothes and a cloak with a hood. Under the hood, Rey could see his ruddy, wet eyes.

_Especially the Kylo Ren parts. I’m sorry it hurts you too._

He tentatively reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders as she wept.

_Did it feel this bad when you went by that name?_

_Sometimes. You stop feeling anything after a while though._

Rey shivered.

_I’m sorry. I know it’s not my fault, but I still am sorry._

Sensing something amiss, Ben drew his lightsaber, put himself in front of Rey, and deflected some blaster fire coming from a bar down the street.

_I can’t see your surroundings. Tell me where you are. I’m coming for you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one feels like it wants to go somewhere. I'm imagining some kind of short, Clone Wars-y adventure, but do want to avoid the easy, romanticly-tinged trap that this could set up if I can, at least to start.


	6. Sheltered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being a Ben Solo character study more than a Force Bond thing. Or at least how I imagine him.

Ben sat across from two beings he was quickly regretting striking up a conversation with.

"With the way that this new government works though, we were better off under the First Order. Even the Final Order did better than this," one of them said.

Before he could think, Ben stood up, his fists balled up at his sides.

“Even though it was quicker, faster, and gave you more personally, it’s not worth the cost to literally _everyone else_ around you, including the people _running_ the damn operation.”

One of the beings rose to meet his eyes, coming just a little closer than Ben would have liked.

“So just who are you, exactly?”

The Bond opened just so.

_Ben?_

Ben held his gaze while one of his fists started to shake from nerves.

_Not now, Rey.  
_

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

The being circled Ben, sizing him up.

“It's clear you’re not from around _here_.”

Uh ... Ben?

“No. I'm not. Is that a problem?”

The other being rose from the table.

“We’re not big fans of fancy outsiders around here.”

“I’ll ... uh ..."

Ben reached for his drink and turned towards the bar.

"... just shut up, finish my drink, and leave quietly then? No harm done?”

_Ben, that’s not going to work._

Ben turned from the beings and set his drink on the bar.

_I got this, Rey. There's no need to--_

Rey lept through the Bond and stood in front of Ben with her doubleblades ignited as the beings charged towards him. They struggled to stop in time to avoid her blades, and instead, slid into other waitstaff and under other patrons' tables.

Rey raised her hand toward the gathering crowd, speaking in the most fierce voice she could muster.

“You will leave us alone and never speak of this to anyone.”

“We will leave you alone and never speak of this to anyone,” the crowd repeated.

All went about their business. Rey switched her blades off and sat down next to Ben, who tried unsuccessfully to hide how shaken he was. He took a long draw of his drink.

After a long pause, Rey said, “I think I figured something out about you today."

"What's that?"

"You’re so damn sheltered.”

Ben struggled to swallow his drink while also containing laughter. 

“I’m _what_?”

“Sheltered.”

_It’s the only way you fell for Snoke, the Emperor, and_ this.

Ben froze.

_Point taken._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is less an imagining of things that happen with Force Bond mechanics and more an imagining of the social ramifications of being part of one. Ben accidentally shows up when Rey's training with Finn, and a discussion of what it means to fall to the dark side ensues.

Finn and Rey sat on an open, grassy hill, where they had developed a habit of doing a silent morning meditation. One day without thinking, Ben slipped through the Bond while doing his own practice.

Finn sensed this new presence and fell out of his communing with the Force.

“Rey?”

Rey opened her eyes.

“Yes?”

“Who’s he?”

Rey saw Ben at a rare peace and decided to let him continue undisturbed.

“No one you need to worry about.”

“That wasn’t my question, but okay?”

Rey reached into the Bond as gently as she could.

_Ben, I'm sorry. How do you want to handle this?_

Ben opened his eyes, but didn't move. Rey could feel Ben internally bracing for a conversation that he was both used to and dreaded.

_Honestly is good._

“Every once in a great while, the Force connects two people’s souls so that they can do things that other Force users can’t. It’s called a Dyad or a Force Bond. I’m half of one. Who you see is the other half.”

“This person has to have a name—“

Ben looked at Finn.

“—Ben. Ben Solo.”

“Like Han S—“

“—Yes.”

“Then you know that—“

Ben looked down.

“—I know.”

Finn rose to his feet. Though Rey could feel Finn struggling to manage it internally, rage cut across his face.

“Because you were there under a different name.”

Ben looked up at Finn, but remained seated. He held himself together, but Rey felt the emotional cut Finn’s recognition made as if it had been her own.

“I won’t deny it,” Ben said quietly. “There’s no point. I’m sorry for what I did. What the First Order and the Final Order did. It was wrong in ways I don’t know how to right.”

Finn backed away, shaking. Rey got to her feet and tried to reach out to him, but he pulled away.

“That’s how you knew he was coming when we were looking for the Wayfinder.”

Ben glanced at Rey, then back at Finn.

“Rey did nothing but try to save the Resistance and help me see my errors. I’m here as I am now because what she and—“

Ben choked on his words, but held it together.

“—and my mother did worked. Being angry means you are alive, and I can’t and won’t ask you to be anything else. But please be angry with me and only me. That Rey and I are a Dyad happened independently of our control. We’re still working on how to control it, in as much as that’s possible.”

Finn looked down and wept. Rey reached out to him, and he didn’t back away.

“I don’t know how to be anything other than angry right now, but I don’t want to go to the dark side—“

“—Anger isn’t inherently of the dark, Finn,” Rey said.

Ben and Finn looked at her, surprised.

“It’s not what Luke Skywalker or his Masters would have taught, yes, but hear me out. You and Poe couldn’t have led the Resistance without some righteous anger at what the First Order did and represented. Identifying with and acting out of it is though.”

Rey glanced at Ben, but then turned her gaze back on Finn.

“It’s also sometimes hard to see in yourself. It has to be. You remember how, on Crait, you were willing to die by flying into one of the First Order’s canons even though it would have wasted your gifts? Acting out of the dark side can be like that as much as it can be like what we saw with the Emperor’s holos.”

Finn nodded, wiping his eyes.

“Was it more like that for you, Ben? Not seeing what was happening?”

Ben looked up.

“More often than not, yes. Even if you realize something has gone terribly wrong, it’s hard to know what or how to get yourself out of it.”

Finn turned to Rey.

“You’ll keep an eye on me then?”

“Of course.“

“And if I fall?”

Ben got to his feet, but kept a respectful distance.

“We’ll bring you back home, Finn. As much as I can, I intend to be the last Force sensitive a Jedi failed.”


	8. A Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey goes on a date with Emmett and feelings slip through the Bond. Ben is both not a jerk and not quite as sheltered as Rey thought. This tends more T than G because feelings and consent questions all come up. 
> 
> (I'll admit that it makes me wonder just how much thought was put into the Force Bond concept, because it very easily becomes a way to tie these two characters together romantically. But it doesn't have to be so simple, because love isn't simple.)

Rey bid Emmett good night with a passionate kiss and returned to her quarters. Once inside, she joyfully kicked off her boots and waved goodbye through the window as he sped away.

A tentative voice spoke into the Bond.

_Uh … Rey? What just happened?_

_I was on a date? Doing … date things?_

_Well, uh … That would explain some stuff!_

Rey gasped.

Force— _I’m so sorry! I wasn’t even thinking and—_

Ben chuckled.

_—I can’t complain? Whatever you were doing felt nice._

_I just kissed him?_

Ben appeared through the Bond, grinning and trying to hide it.

_Well done. Even if it were more than just kissing, I’d be happy for you._

Rey couldn’t pick up her jaw from the ground.

“So does this mean that every time we do something, the other—"

“—its plausible, unless we figure out a way to get better control of this thing.”

 _“_ So, for the moment, Emmett’s accidentally dating _both of us_?”

“I can understand why you would come to that conclusion.”

Rey bit her lip and tried to hide tears.

“We’ve _so_ clearly not thought this through.”

Ben sat before her, looking up and trying to find in her eyes what Rey wanted to hide.

“You like someone. They like you. You went on a date together that ended well. Yeah, you’re a member of a Force Bond, and so feelings, perceptions, memories, and, yes, we ourselves move through it sometimes. Random feelings happen for _many_ reasons even among beings who aren’t Force Bonded, and there’s a huge difference between feelings and actions. And I'm sure you know this, but I'm going to say it anyway: you’re not cheating on Emmett because you’re a member of a Force Bond. That's something that neither of us had any control over. It’s okay.”

Rey looked back at him, letting a few tears fall.

“That may be, but we’re going to have to do something so that, if and in the event something gets serious, the Force Bond doesn’t do something awkward. Its not just about right now. What if you find someone, and things get mixed up in the Bond, and we both end up in trouble?”

“I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. There’s time to figure things out.”


End file.
